Warnings: mention of past abuse, strike fighting, character death, knife
uh whoops back to a newsie-killing fic. So this is one of the parts of a multi-chapter newsie angst
It was the day before the strike, and Mike couldn’t sleep. He was sitting on the fire escape outside of the lodging house, just staring out into space, worrying about the strike. He had always been there to protect Ike and the other younger newsies, ever since he and his brother had come to the lodging house three years before.
They had been running away from an abusive household, Mike carrying Ike, who had twisted his ankle while they were running from their father. They had showed up at the front door of the lodging house, both thin and starved, shivering from the cold, and drenched from the rain. Jack had let both of them in at once and adopted them into the newsies family, giving them one of the extra beds that they could share.
They had been wary of getting close to any of the others, as whenever they had gotten close to anyone in the past it had only brought them pain. But slowly, they had come out of their shells, and become close with all of the others. They knew what it was like to feel alone and unloved, and so cared for all of the young newsies with everything that they had.
But Mike still worried for the next day. Strikes were dangerous, and he knew that if everything went downhill he might not be able to protect himself or his brother, let alone all of the other newsies.
“Hey.” Mike turned and saw his brother clambering out of the window and perching on the escape next to him. “You alright?”
Mike nodded distractedly. “Yeah.”
“No, you’re not. What’s wrong Mike?” Mike sighed.
“What if tomorrow goes all wrong? I can’t live with myself if you or any of the others get hurt.”
Ike hesitated. “I can’t know what’ll happen, but I promise that I won’t leave you. We’ll be fine Mike.”
He gently pulled his twin into a hug, both of them relaxing into the other and cherishing the moment of peace, where everything was still alright.
The next morning dawned far too early when all of the newsies rolled out of bed and trooped down to newsies square. Today was the day of the strike. Today was the day that all of their lives would change forever.
Katherine snapped the photo, the photo of their triumph. They were on strike, and at that moment, they felt like nothing could dampen their success. They were making a difference, and from now on, they mattered. They weren’t nobodies anymore.
Then a shrill whistle cut through their celebration. They drew to the sides, and grabbed newspapers. They were ready to fight.
The fight didn’t last for long before it was over. The DeLanceys had brought the cops, and as soon as they came, it was over. Romeo was hit and fell, crying out with pain as he landed. Mike ran over to his friend, slinging his arm over his shoulders, and helping the younger newsie stagger dazedly out of the square and over to where Buttons was. “Take him!” Mike cried, turning back to the remaining newsies, seeing Ike and Elmer being two of the ones still in the square.
“No!” Mike cried out, sprinting towards Oscar as he saw him shove Ike, seeing his twin fall. Race ran over, grabbing Ike, and hauling him out of the square.
“Get Elmer!” Race called over to Mike and Albert. Mike hesitated, torn between helping Ike and helping the other newsie who had become like his younger brother. In his hesitation, Albert had made it over to Elmer, and was trying to fight the DeLanceys off.
Mike made it over, and grabbed Elmer, pulling him to his feet. Behind him, he heard a pained cry as Albert crumpled to the ground. He wanted to turn back for him, but knew he couldn’t. Then, as Mike looked up, past where Race was charging towards Albert, he saw Morris blocking his own path, and saw the knife aimed at Elmer.
Without hesitation, he twisted his body, feeling the sharp pain course through him as it sank into him. He fell to the ground, his vision already blurring. His eyes started to slide shut and everything went numb. His mind felt fuzzy, and he had no energy left to speak, but still murmured softly as his eyes shut and he finally went limp, “I’m sorry Ike.”
this is terrible but still
this was painful to write and the series isn’t over more newsie-hurting to come
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